As for the Bobcats trade I loved it so of course Cormac hated it
First off, Bobcats have cap space to burn cause no big time FA is going to sign here in the near future. Second, Gordons contract comes off the same time as Matt Carroll and Diop, so we'll have a huge chunk in 2 years.
edit- actually this is the last year for Carroll and Diop, but only one more year for Gordon who becomes valuable as an expiring contract
As for players, he's younger than Maggette and as a combo guard may be able to teach Kemba a few tricks. Plus he's a good 3rd guard to pair with Henderson, although yes it's a tiny backcourt. Maggette played less than half the games for us last year, and while I loved his effort, he was expendable especially if he brings us another 1st round pick. Expecting Gordon to go back to his Bulls days may be a stretch but he should get all the shots he wants on our second team, so it's not unreasonable to think he might lead the team in scoring off the bench.
As for the pick, it's lottery protected this year which is fine by me. The Pistons could sneak into the playoffs I suppose, and if Portland barely misses the playoffs and Charlotte is terrible again they will end up with 3 top 15-16 picks next year, two in the top 10. If the Pistons do not make the playoffs, it's top 8 protected the year after, and top 3 protected the year after that, and top 1 and then unprotected.
I'm hoping the Pistons miss the playoffs obviously and we can delay that pick till it's a little higher.
Essentially we turned an aging Stephen Jackson into Ben Gordon, Bismack Biyombo and whatever that pick turns into. I'm pretty good with that.
